Super Mario Bros
by ChiBea
Summary: In the first installment of Project Smash, a kingdom in another world is under havoc. Watch two siblings undergo a spiritual journey, a quest, that includes saving a princess, fighting a god, and struggling to survive. The Super Mario Bros. have been pushed around in life too much. But no more. Because they will be the beginning of all heroes.
1. Mario Mario

Our galaxy: an enormous containment of planets, a star, so many meteors and meteorites. From an outside, cosmic glance, it is awesome in every form; to us, it is but taken for granted-for our primitive minds cannot comprehend such bulking mass. So, imagine how your average man would feel when placed right in front of it...

BEEP

BEEP

BEEP

A hand slammed onto the circular, bronze alarm, before the hand's owner slowly awakened from his sleep. This man is Mario Mario, an unfortunately-named plumber who wakes up at approximately 6:25 A.M. every morning.

Other important figures you will encounter in this story include Luigi Mario, a real estate agent who awakens at 7:00 A.M. every morning; Princess Peach Toadstool, who is up and out of bed at 10:57 A.M.; and Toadsworth and his son, Toad, who come out of the covers at 5:30 A.M. and 8:42 A.M., respectively.

But, alas, our attention veers. The most prominent person in this tale is Mario Mario, who, again, wakes at 6:25 A.M. every morning. And a convenience has arrived, for the specific moment of time at this current point was 6:26 A.M., and Mario was garbing himself in his average wear-a long-sleeved, flaming red shirt, held under by cool-blue overalls. He set a red hat, labeled 'M', on his brunette head; this cap had been given to him as a gift by his younger brother. Mario was still only half-awake-it was of insane odds he did not fall to his death on the stairs any morning. Even today, after the previous night's long, dragged occurrences that forced Mario to keep conscious to 3:47 A.M. before becoming entranced in a deep sleep, did he not fall down those wretched steps.

Mario, in full clothes and almost full-conscious, stumbled out of his home into the dark morn. Mario Mario was one of those men who believed those terrible ads on the television on how to improve your lifestyle: he walked everywhere; he drunk little alcohol and caffeine; he was even on a diet. He was liked well enough by the rest of the crew at his agency, as he cracked a joke every now and then, effecting a laugh from the other plumbers. In an odd coincidence to my narrative, Mario Mario was heading to those same plumbers.

When our hero had made it to the agency, he was greeted by his boss the same way he was every other day: "Mar-ya, yer late again! How many times I gotta tell ya about our opening schedule, dammit?"

And our hero replied the same way he did every other day: "Sorry boss, won't happen again."

If Mario Mario would just set his alarm clock a mere two minutes earlier, he'd never be slightly late again. Of course, this lack of two minutes could lead to a falling-down-to-death-by-stairs incident, so he didn't bother with it.

Allow me to describe Mario's occupation and work environment. Mario Mario was an ordinary plumber, not to say he was only mediocre at it, but rather, excelling at the necessary job. He was quite possibly the most qualified plumber in the Super Plumbing Inc. building. Speaking of Super Plumbing Inc.-this particular company was the cheapest plumbing in the urban area. However, it was also where the most degenerative of plumbers found refuge; where the most despicable of convicts made a living. Not that Mario Mario was either of these. In fact, he was easily the best man the Super Plumbing Inc. building had ever had walk through it's doors.

Mario's routine was simple-when he walked through the doors of this rather dreary establishment, he was to sit at a long plastic table with other employees for a minute or more until the manager, a fellow around Mario's age (30) known as Wallace Landers, sat down at the table with them. Then what occurred was a brief description of the jobs they'd been hired for, who was going, who wasn't, etcetera.

"Mar-ya," Wallace turned to Mario as he sat, "got a job for ya. Customer is 'Reggie', says he found a pipe unknown to him and doesn't know what the hell to do with it. Address is 1985 Gadd Lane. Have fun."

At this point, Mario would stand, push through the heavy doors of Super Plumbing Inc., and set out for his job with a toolbox in hand. Today, his routine would differ a bit. Today, he would stop by his brother Luigi's house.


	2. Luigi Mario

Luigi Mario, again, usually awakes at 7:00 A.M., but today he was up at 6:10 A.M., preparing himself for a new possible job. Luigi had been fired from his previous occupation as a real estate agent less than a week ago, the result of selling a mansion which supposedly killed the family inside. After this event, Luigi did not react like a normal man would, which is going into depression after having a case of survivor guilt-instead, Luigi only became frightened of everything, every danger he encountered. When he had spent that less than a week from being fired on adjusting his own home to be the safest it could be, he received a call from his brother, Mario Mario, who was calling in to ask if he'd like to go with him on a job, see how it suited him.  
>Luigi, although despising his brother's line of work, reluctantly corresponded, as he was running low on funds. He garbed himself in a long-sleeved flaming green shirt held under cool-blue overalls. He then set on his bright brown head a green hat labeled 'L'. This cap was given to him as a gift by his older brother. The ex-real estate agent plopped down at his dining table (which had been carved into a smooth circle 3 days ago to avoid any poke wounds) and poured into his bowl the last in a box of breakfast cereal (Quizmos, if you wished to know). When the clock was near 6:53, a knock on the door sounded. Luigi dashed slowly to the door (did not want to trip, of course) and twisted the doorknob he covered in fluff yesterday, opening the doorway.<br>"Luigi!" Mario broke into an odd laugh that hasn't a word for it and attempted to hug Luigi. I say 'attempt' because, almost immediately, Luigi pulled away, terrified, and checked around his brother's overalls for any dangerous objects. Then, Luigi gave Mario a slight hug before breaking away.  
>Mario, not yet aware of Luigi's "condition", just handed Luigi a 'is-this-man-retarded' look. He shrugged off the scenario and chuckled. "Ready?" was all he asked of his younger brother.<br>Luckily, his younger brother replied, "yes." 


	3. Reggie

A/N: I realize my chapters are shorter than they seemed when typing, so I'll be making them longer.  
>Mario and Luigi Mario had walked from the latter brother's home to, finally, the customer's house. The two stepped up to the front door and Mario gave three loud knocks on the door. After a couple seconds passed by, the door swung open, revealing the customer's identity.<br>"Hello!" The customer was excited to see the pair. "Are you from the Super Plumbing Inc.?"  
>"That we are, sir," Mario replied to the very enthusiastic male.<br>"Name's Reggie."  
>"Mario and Luigi," the older brother spoke up again.<br>"Mario. Luigi," Reggie's eyes were maniacal, jumping up and down, observing the two but only doing so half-way, the other half's function being lost in wonder, "I have something to show you."  
>The three pattered through the house into the backyard. The outside was rather nice. It was a basic low green grass, a freshly-painted brown fence surrounding the rather spacious area. The yard was so spacious, even, it was a while before Mario spotted what was wrong. There was a small abyss in the ground, nearing the upper-right corner of the fence. Mario wandered off to the hole while Luigi, not taking any chances, stayed behind and conversed with Reggie.<br>"Why is there a hole in the ground?"  
>"I'm building one of those natural pool things. I mean, I was until I found it."<br>"Found what?"  
>"A pipe," Mario's voice broke in from the short distance. "Luigi, get the hell over here, the water's fine."<br>Slowly, Luigi took his brother's steps over to the hole. Sure enough, a gigantic red pipe was sticking up from the ground.  
>"A h-human could fall in there," Luigi shivered at the thought.<br>"Sure could," Mario cackled. He hopped into the hole and inspected the pipe a little more.  
>"Be careful."<br>"Luigi, I'll be fine."  
>Mario peered into the pipe. He could see nothing, only a deep darkness.<br>"Ask Reg for a light, Lou." Mario squinted into the red matter as he waited. He was handed a flashlight and he used the light to glow up the inside. Still nothing. Suddenly, he dropped it into the dark.  
>"Ah, fu-n," Mario stopped himself. Cussing at a customer's house was prohibited by the Super Plumbing Inc. code. He looked up to Reggie's frustrated glare. "Don't worry, I'll get it." He struggled up the red pipe.<br>"Mario-"  
>"Luigi, I'll be fine. How far can a pipe go?" Mario was not a very reasonable person, and that opinion became fact when the red plumber disappeared.<br>"Mario?" Luigi whispered.  
>In this time, Reggie had been gazing upon with wonder, as if entranced. Only when one plumber was present did he realize his silence through the scenario. He joined Luigi in a game of staring-at-the-red-pipe-until-Mario-comes home.<p>When 2 hours had passed, Reggie invited the despairing brother into his home. Luigi enjoyed a silent meal with Reggie and his children. At the end of the meal, and Mario still had not showed up, Luigi stood up and declared he would be leaving now. Luigi spent the rest of the afternoon staring at his ceiling from bed. Then, the rest of the evening. Then, the rest of the night. Until he fell asleep.<br>The next morning, at approximately 9:42 A.M., he received a phone call.


	4. Peach Toadstool

A/N: I messed up. Last chapter, I put: "the next morning, at approximately 9:42 A.M., Luigi received a phone call." I meant to say "that night, at approximately 9:42 P.M., Luigi received a phone call." Sorry for the mess-up, please excuse it.

Hour 1-  
>Mario Mario had landed on his bottom, on the grassy plains. His eyes were shut, but he still felt conscious. He slowly opened his eyes to a beautiful world, a world that had not heard of pollution or litter. The air was so clear his vision felt enhanced. Mario stood up and brushed off his overalls from lingering blades of grass. He examined the edge of the other end of the red pipe, hating it. His eyes then turned toward the distance, and he found white, fluffy clouds, a stone bridge, and a castle-<br>A castle? Mario felt stupid for not noticing the massive, gray-stoned manor with stained glass of a beautiful woman. He decided that if he wanted answers, that was probably the place to go.  
>Mario spent a bit making his way to the castle. He was not in any rush. Midway, he saw another pipe similar to the one Mario had gone through, but green. Not wanting to leave this place until he understood what 'this place' even was, he ignored it and continued his way toward the castle. Small homes began coming into sight. Civilians, even, waddled about the grounds. Mario finally made it up-close and personal to the village when he was able to touch a home. He shoved past it into what looked like the Main Square, if this place had one. The plumber began reading silently off a bulletin board. 'Welcome to Mushroom Villa, home to the Princess Peach', 'December 31st-Annual Last Eve-fest! (The Princess will make an appearance!)' and a newspaper headline reading 'Mushroom Kingdom finally at peace with Kongaland!' were some tidbits that caught Mario's eye. Mario turned from the wooded board and found behind him a small army of...mushrooms.<br>"Hi," Mario greeted the short, fungus-like creatures.  
>They broke into a panic and started fleeing all over town.<br>Hour 2-  
>"Argh!" Mario was trying to find how to shut the peoples up when he was whacked fiercely upon the head with a wooden cane. He turned to see the culprit and was met by one of the civilian mushroom-people. However, this one looked drastically different than the ones he saw running in circles beside him. The others were an odd color scheme of red and white, while this one was a light and dark brown. Adding to the oddity, the mushroom man also wore a warm coat and a monocle hung over his small gray mustache.<br>"I need you to come with me," the mushroom man spoke to him as if he was just another fungi.  
>"Why would I do that?" Mario interrogated.<br>"I need you to come with me."  
>Mushroom Man looked very grave.<br>"Alright."  
>So the average plumber with a liking for red and the elderly walking, talking mushroom went on their way, the former not knowing what the destination was, and the latter not sure of the former's intentions. After a minute, Mario figured out they were getting closer to the castle, which was Mario's original objective anyway.<br>"Who's that?" Mario pointed to the front of the castle which clutched a stained glass portrait of a blonde woman.  
>"That's our leadership. That is none other than the Princess Peach Toadstool. She is another of your-species."<br>"Who are /you/?" Mario pressed.  
>"I'm Toadsworth. I'm the Princess' advisor and assistant."<br>"So you're all Toads?"  
>This emitted a laugh from Toadsworth. "I've read up on your species since the Princess arrived. Homo sapien. And I, in fact, am familiar with how last names work in your world. Here, we put our last name before our front. When the Princess arrived, she was but a little girl. I was a young adult. I adopted her in consent of the rest of the Mushroom Kingdom." "So this is a different world." Mario was not quite used to bizarre trivials such as these. He was, most likely, breaking down inside.<br>"Yes. As I was saying, the Princess' name is Touelle, which becomes 'tool' when added to the Toad surname."  
>"Do you have family, Mr. Toad?"<br>"Just Toadsworth, thank you. Yes, a young man, Toadshipp. But he just likes to go by 'Toad'."  
>"So am I headed to meet this woman, Toadsworth?"<br>They were at the castle door, and Toadsworth offered a dry laugh.  
>"You're very intuitive. Before we enter, may I ask your name?"<br>"Mario," he replied, "Mario Mario."  
>Toadsworth and Mario entered the doorless mansion. When they were in, Mario gazed upon the elegance the fort supplied. Pink rug fell everywhere, covering a line on the floor and spinning up the spiral stairs. Large paintings covered the walls, paintings of the oddest objects-living bombs, massive red blocks, a pipe that looked like the green one Mario encountered earlier.<br>"I take it you're fans of surrealism?"  
>"Hmm?"<br>"Never mind," Mario muttered. They struggled up the spiral stairs until they reached the top floor, where a single small door lied.  
>"One last question," Mario said quietly, "why do you call her Peach?"<br>"You'll see," Toadsworth shook his head in fear for him, and pushed the door open. Mario entered while the Toad stayed behind.  
>Hour 3-<br>The walls and ceiling were all pink, and a large bed sat upon the pink floor with a more radiant shade of, yes, pink. Aligning the walls were paintings of peaches (although Mario also spotted a couple drawings of turnips, too, for some reason) and were perched above pink drawers. In the corner was a small drawing space with a pink-painted easel. Suddenly, his eyes returned to the bed where he heard movement. This time, upon closer look, he noticed the blonde girl who was wiggling her legs and staring at Mario.  
>"Oh. My. God!" The, presumably, Princess Peach jumped out of bed, 10 feet into the air, which caused Mario to fall out of surprise. Peach floated along the air a bit and drifted toward Mario before landing right in front of him. "Ohmygosh! It's another human! That is so COOL!"<br>Mario was not charmed by the Princess' 8-year-old-seemingness. "Yeah," he gave a simple reply and stood up.  
>"We have SO much to talk about! Are there any wars happening? What about the Cold War? Did we win that? How 'bout that?"<br>"What is this place?" Mario forcibly asked.  
>"This is the Mushroom Kingdom, sill-y."<br>"What STATE are we in?!" Mario was running out of patience.  
>"I couldn't believe at first, either." Princess Peach muttered sadly.<br>"Believe WHAT at first?"  
>"This place is not on Earth."<br>"Then where is it?"  
>Peach gestured to a painting above her head. The sketch was of clouds in front of a setting sun, way up in the blue sky. "We're in Heaven, I think."<br>"Heaven?" Mario asked.  
>"I found a red pipe, probably the same one you found, a long time ago. I think I was 9, or 10. I was digging a hole because I was looking for treasure. Technically, I did find it." She pointed to a closet that was overflowing with gold coins. "I came here every night after my parents were asleep until 12. Then, they were in a car crash, and I've spent the rest of my life in here. I don't know what's up with my sister Daisy." She sighed. "Anyway, ever since, I've tried to find a way to explain this place. And I think all it is, is Heaven, and the pipe was just an easier way to get here. I think the little Mushroom people, whether they know it or not, are the angels."<br>"Mm-hm." Mario was pretty doubtful of the theory, but he didn't have time to argue. "By the way," he began, "how did you jump so high?"  
>"Did you not figure that out yet? Ohmygosh! It's the coolest part about this world!" Peach ran out the room and jumped, floating down the spiral stairs, hovering. Mario gazed upon her with wonder. "I don't think you'll be able to float like me, since you don't wear a dress, but you can probably jump really high!"<br>Mario was pretty unsure of what he was about to do. But he leapt over 30 feet into the air and fell in a straight circle through the edge of the stairs. Soon, he was at the bottom with Peach.  
>"You see, here, the gravity is, like, lower than it was back on Earth. Of course, the mushroom people's masses are adjusted to fit them here, so they don't jump nearly as high as we do. Another cool thing about the gravity here, is it makes you stronger!" Peach explained.<br>"How?" Mario questioned, still starstruck by the jump.  
>"Well, go punch that tree!" Peach pointed at a large tree, a safe distance from the village. Mario took a running start and his fist warped the tree's shape, sending it flying miles away. He took a look at his fist, which was covered in his usual white plumbing gloves, and the power that it now came with. "Cool, right?!" Mario heard Peach shout from her place in front of the castle. Mario gave a thumbs up.<br>Hour 4-  
>"These are 'Goombas'."<br>"Goombas?"  
>"Goombas.<br>"What the hell are Goombas?"  
>"Those." Peach pressed her finger against the picture.<br>"Those are real?!" Mario quietly screamed in disbelief.  
>"Yep."<br>Mario held the photograph closer to him. It was a short being in stature, looking around 3 feet tall, but it was also 3 feet wide. It was a triangle-looking creature with curved edges. The Goomba was brown, with red eyes and a huge mouth containing rows of razor-sharp teeth.  
>"But those are like, the least of your worries," Peach reassured him.<br>"Is that supposed to make me feel better?"  
>"Uhm..." "Whatever. Next creature."<br>For the rest of the night, they reviewed upon territories and creatures of the Mushroom Kingdom. Mario wanted to be prepared. Although weirded out, he liked this world-the lack of humans, the not lacking of pollution and grossness, even the never-learned-how-to-grow-up Princess Peach Toadstool. But most of all, he wanted Luigi by his side.  
>Hour 12-<br>"Will I see you again, Mario Mario?" Princess Peach asked as Mario exited the building.  
>"Of course," Mario replied and made his way to the red pipe he came in from. He was not leaving with nothing, however. In his right hand was a bag of gold coins that he had plans to put use to. <p>


	5. Intermission

Mario Mario, as exuberant as ever, made a running start and jumped into the red pipe. In a maximum of 3 seconds, he then found Earth, regular Earth, as the momentum from his jump into the pipe caused him to fly way above, perhaps even touching clouds. He then realized, due to Earth's gravity, he was going to die.  
>He closed his eyes and awaited his sure death. "OH SHIIIIIII-" he landed hard and felt air again, then landed and felt less air, and so on. He opened his eyes to see he was bouncing on a trampoline. On his next hop, he leapt off, slightly hurt his leg, and knocked on the backdoor of Reggie's home. After a minute or two, he was greeted by a shocked Reggie.<br>"Mario Mario?" he asked in a crazed voice. Mario handed him the bag of gold coins. "Will that be enough for you to move out of this house right now?"  
>This was not an ordinary night for Reggie. "Hell, yeah..." he stared at the wealth, "I can finally start that video game company!"<br>"Have fun with that," Mario gasped, out of breath, as Reggie ran through his house, getting his kids out and calling a moving truck. 'Kids, your father is soon to be a billionaire! See, I'm going to call it Nintendo...' were the last words Mario heard from his ex-customer. He walked inside and dialed on the wall phone Luigi's number.  
>Meanwhile, at Luigi's, the poor guy was destroyed by not only the loss of his job, the impossibilities of getting a new job, the partial responsibility of a family's death, but his brother's death too. At that exact moment of self-pity's peak, his cell phone rang. Luigi picked it up after three rings. He sniffled, "Luigi," into the phone.<br>"Luigi! It's, ahh, me, Mario!"  
>"Mario?" Luigi broke into a fit of happiness.<br>"Yeah! I just bought Reggie's house!"  
>Luigi's fit of happiness then became real life. "Come again?"<br>"I bought Reggie's house! Get over here!" Before Luigi could reply, the dial tone sounded.  
>"Are you kidding me..." Luigi muttered as he pushed on his green cap. He stumbled outside and scooched into his car.<br>I know I'm avoiding the true matters of the story right now, but allow me a moment to talk about Luigi's revolutionary driving technique. Luigi had a brilliant idea that was so safe and so simple, he was surprised no one had thought of it before. You see, to avoid car crashes or speeding, Luigi drove fifteen miles under the speed limit! Every time he hit that gray-rock road, he would receive loud honks in agreement of the intelligence of Luigi's skill. By the time Luigi had reached Reggie's home, or what WAS Reggie's home, 48 minutes had passed.  
>"What the hell took you so long?" were Mario's first words. The brother was filthy, glops of dirt sticking on him in random places. He was sitting on the porch.<br>"Traffic," Luigi lied, "now did I hear correctly? I was pretty sure you said you bought that guy's house. Did you buy that guy's house?"  
>"I bought that guy's house," Mario confirmed.<br>"Why did you buy that guy's house?"  
>"I needed the land."<br>"Why did you need the land?"  
>"Well, brother, let me show you."<br>The brothers trudged through the house and back the outside door, a path that was becoming quite familiar to them. Mario walked Luigi to the pipe.  
>"Hop in," Mario said.<br>"Wha-?" Luigi was interrupted by a solid shove from Mario and fell directly through the pipe.  
>"That's what you get for taking so long," Mario murmured and leapt into the pipe himself.<p>Luigi did not stop screaming for the whole, 3-second duration of the freefall, nor did he stop screaming after being ejected from the red pipe. It was only after a harsh slap from Mario did Luigi suddenly hush.<br>"Good God, man," Mario glared at Luigi, "that mansion...it changed you."  
>They stood in silence for a minute before Mario shook it off and marched onward.<br>"Come on, Luigi," Mario hollered. The greener of the brothers scrambled to his feet and quickly followed.


	6. Toad

Mario Mario was planning on introducing his brother to Princess Peach and Toadsworth, but unfortunately, Luigi had passed out on first sight of the Mushroom creatures. Tiredly, the older brother dragged Luigi to a (terrified) mushroom man's home and set him in bed there.  
>"Thank you very much," he showed gratitude to the mushroom man. The creature gave Mario a nod.<br>As he stepped outside, he noticed a small panic that was spreading throughout the entire town. Mushrooms whispering in eachother's ears, going wide-eyed, running and shrieking, "God save us!" Oblivious to the problem, Mario decided to announce his return to the Princess and marched into the magnificent palace. However, he nearly trampled over Toadsworth, who had just been exiting.  
>"Thank the Gods!" Toadsworth exclaimed, in relief upon seeing the red plumber. In a quieter voice, he repeated, "thank the Gods..."<br>"What's happening, Toadsy?" Mario interrogated in a rough voice.  
>"The Princess has been kidnapped, Mario Mario!" Toadsworth shouted in Mario's face. The old man dropped his arms. "I woke up this morning at the usual time, and was frustrated when the Princess wasn't out of bed after 12 A.M., so I knocked on her door to no response...when I opened it, she was gone."<br>Mario softened his tone. "Are you sure she didn't run away, or something?"  
>"That's the worst part," Toadsworth answered grimly, "the note."<br>"Show me."  
>Toadsworth pulled a folded piece of paper from his shirt pocket and handed it to Mario. "You see, it's from a dictator of a land not too far from ours, Koopaland."<br>"I remember learning a little about that," Mario remembered back to when Peach was teaching him on the geography of this world.  
>Mario Mario unfolded the wrinkled, light-brown sheet paper and read the fading text inscribed:<br>"PEACH IS MINE GIVEING BACK FOR OWNERSHIP Of MUSHROOM KINGDUM ~BOWSER KOOPA" "Damn."  
>"If you read the back, he adds that if not given the deed within a week, the princess will die."<br>Mario viewed the back of the paper, as if to confirm Toadsworth's words, and shoved it back to him.  
>"I have a brother to wake up."<p>Luigi Mario awoke after a truly horrid nightmare. Before I go through with the common cliché of men believing previous events to be mere dreams and then realizing the sad, utter truth, let us just understand that Luigi was affected by this trope.<br>So you could imagine his surprise when being pushed awake to see his brother and a mushroom man.  
>Yes, a mushroom man-it was all true.<br>"Luigi, meet Toad. He's a new friend of mine."  
>Luigi studied the little person, trying to assure himself these were but hallucinations caused by a severe injury. But the militantly-built young...thing looked pretty realistic, and he certainly didn't feel any severe injury. He decided to sleep some more, which was a nice way to imply he passed out yet again, in a timespan of 1 minutes, 4 seconds.<br>"Your brother's kind of a wimp," Toad admitted.  
>"Yeah," Mario chuckled, "he is."<br>Mario and Toad, son of Toadsworth, had met after the former was alerted of the princess kidnapping situation. As Mario and Luigi Mario journeyed on their quest to save the Princess, Toad would be joining them, as he had studied the creatures and land in all the "Earth" and knew their greatest weaknesses. Toad was taller than most of the residents of Mushroom Kingdom, at a whopping 4 and a half feet. He also had quite a bit more muscle than others. Strapped on his back was a miniature version of what we call "katanas". He also had a knife strapped into his boot.  
>"So you're the resident badass?" Mario had asked him when they first met.<br>"Basically," was Toad's short reply.  
>"Then welcome to the team," Mario grinned and walked away. <p>


	7. Koopa Bowser

If you were tiring of the heroes in my little story, then I'm sure you'll be pleased with this twist of events. Meanwhile, as the Mario Bros. prepared for a dangerous quest, Koopa Bowser was preparing to stop them.  
>Allow me to address a couple major issues of King Koopa Bowser. First of all, this monster wasn't actually a king. There were no ties to a royal bloodline or an electorial win in politics. This "man" had simply seen a land that could be taken, and convicted. He easily tore through anyone in his way and commanded the resident Goombas and Koopas to build statues, weapons, and a towering kingdom just for him.<br>Another thing: Bowser was able to "easily tear through anyone in his way" because he was the last of his kind-an ancient species known as the Megakoopas. They were able to live for thousands of years if they were not killed before then. Sadly, that was exactly the case. Bowser's parents were hunted and killed by Mushroom Men for serious cash. Bowser was only 7 when he witnessed their deaths. In a sneak attack, the young Megakoopa slashed the hunters' throats, and has ever since lived for vengeance against the Mushroom people. For 32 years, he had trained-he was more powerful than one could have imagined. A solid punch from him could result in a faulty stone wall's destruction. The spikes on his shell should be able to impale pure metals. His fiery breath would melt a glacier. Yes, this Megakoopa was terrifyingly ready for anything. Perhaps even ready for the Mario Brothers.  
>Not that the Megakoopa knew that two humans would be arriving at his castle to deliver not a deed, but a defeat. The Megakoopa's thoughts were a little mushroom boy would be coming with a complicated contract basically saying that Mushroom Kingdom was his. As soon as Bowser had it, he planned to kill everyone there with his bare hands. But just in case, Bowser had installed every possible safety feature to ensure the everlasting rule of his beautiful castle. He had even had his civilians construct something very interesting, very new and unheard of in the Mushroom World (yes, this was the name of the plane the Mushroom Men, Koopas, Goombas, etc., lived on). They were large ovals of lead, which homed in on intruders. Bowser liked to call them "Bullet Bills".<br>This was, in a way, the most horrifying thing about Bowser. He was creative. He could come up with a apocalyptic plan in mere minutes if he put his head to it. In the Mushroom World, the idea of guns, tanks, choppers, missiles-they were all concepts never heard of. But Bowser, without any influence from the other Worlds, had thought of it, in his 28th year of training. He knew he would make it a reality when he had taken over Koopaland. And he kept his promise. Again, Bowser was very convictive. And yesterday, he decided he would enact Level 1 of his master plan to rule Mushroom World. That was to kidnap the Princess of the Mushroom Kingdom, Peach Toadstool, and use her to take Mushroom Kingdom. He COULD use his civilian army and his own powers to forcefully take it, but he wanted to keep his legion as intact as possible, with as few deaths as he could manage.  
>"As few deaths as he could manage" reminds me of one more unique feature to Bowser-his temper was the worst of it all. If you angered him too well, he would pick you up by the neck and crush your skull. He had already done this to several Koopas and Goombas who weren't working hard enough or were unable to get satisfactory results. Of course, he felt terrible after killing them; he was devastated when he took out one of his men's lives. He just could not help it. So Bowser stayed very secluded when he could, at the very top of his majestic home.<br>Speaking of his home, the basic floorplan was this-25 50-foot stories, each resembling an ordinary room from, say, the normal person's home, with around 30 fatal traps in each. The top story, however, was where Bowser spent his free time. It was also where he had the Princess in a dangling cage.  
>"You're not going to get away with this!" Peach shouted at the Megakoopa from her cage 15 feet in the air.<br>Bowser, who was around 15 feet tall himself, sneered at the hostage, speaking in his odd vocabulary-"Princess, you find yourself in a butterfly's prison, shouting at a God, shouting...but why shout at beauty? Allow cruelty to transform you into a hummingbird and you will fly away."  
>Oh, yes, Bowser was very, very ready for the Mario Bros., whether he knew it or not.<p> <p>


	8. Kamek the Occultist

Of course, Bowser was not alone in his mission to rule Mushroom World. Frequently by his side was a Koopa named Kamek, who also happened to be a master of the dark arts. Kamek had been infatuated with a show, "Magical Manny," when he was a child, and ever since began practicing with magic and sorcery. His first book was the Necronomicon, found near his home, probably brought by a human many ages ago. Kamek learned to read for the sole purpose of understanding that book. It was all worth it when he had conjured the ability to fly at age 13, his very first working spell. Of course, it required a broomstick. He had since learned spells consisting of energy blasts, bolts, bombs, etcetera. Kamek was even able to use limited telekinesis. He first met Koopa Bowser 2 years ago. They happened to be the sole two creatures at a meeting called "Understanding Magic", hosted by a guy named Booster. When the pitiful show was over, Koopa Bowser and Shigeru Kamek discussed the dark arts, and Kamek even showed Bowser a few tricks. Bowser was delighted, and they became good friends. Only two weeks ago, however, did Bowser let the magical Koopa in on his plans.  
>"I need an angel for the flood," Bowser had uttered to him on that day, "I need a general for my war."<br>"Of course," Kamek had replied, "Your Majesty."  
>Now, Kamek was visiting his ruler to see how Level 1 of the Megakoopa's plan had gone. "Kamek!" Bowser was delighted to see him. Kamek examined the room for a bit before he spotted the princess high in the air, and floated up for a closer look.<br>"I see Level 1 went well," Kamek grinned.  
>"Yes, Level 1 is complete. But now we must enact Level 2 as we await my deed. We must destroy the beehive with the hammer. Do you understand?"<br>"Of course, Your Highness." Even though Kamek could not speak beauty, he certainly understood it.  
>Level 2 went something like this-Kamek would be gathering troops afar and wide for Bowser's army. The main focus was to bribe the Shy Guys, a human-like species that hid their horrid scars given at birth as part of their culture under red coats and white masks. The sheer amount of them would be enough to take over Kongaland, at the least. They also needed to place the current soldiers (which consisted of lone Goombas and Koopas) under training.<br>"It's a brand new day, I have no remorse, now the water's rising, but I know the course." Bowser whispered quickly. "Go, Kamek-Level 2 begins now."  
>So the mystic Koopa in blue exited on a series of events that would signal the end.<br>Bowser turned to the Princess. "The world I want is at my feet."  
>Peach blew a raspberry in his face.<br>"No it's not! I swear to you, Mario is gonna save me and he's gonna beat you up big time!"  
>"Mario?" Bowser questioned, "Mario? Do you believe Justice has a Voice?"<br>"Yeah, Mario! He comes from Earth like me, and he will drop you into that pit of lava you got right over there!" Peach gestured to a pit of lava covered by a narrow bridge that just fit Bowser.  
>"Dear Princess, you have either lied to me or destroyed any plans your savior could have in a timespan of ten seconds. If there is a 'Mario', and he is coming to secretly save you, he will no longer be. I hope you're proud of your actions."<br>Peach realized what she had done and sunk to her feet behind the floating gray bars.  
> <div> 


	9. Toadsworth

A/N: If you are actually reading this far, I would like to thank you for giving your valuable time to my silly story. I would also like to take this opportunity to ask you all to review, follow, favorite, advertise this fic, etc. I just want to make sure I'm writing this for someone out there. Thank you.

"The Goombas, the Koopas, the Shy Guys, the Ninjii, everyone in Mushroom World-they all have unique, personalities and habits of their own. They are not all just categorized to specific characteristics by their species. All I want you to know is, just because there's a Goomba in your way, that's not it's true intentions."  
>Toadsworth was lecturing the Mario Bros. as he prepared them. "I understand." Mario told him.<br>"Not everyone in this world is Bowser. Many creatures that you'll encounter have families, lives. All I ask is you don't kill unless absolutely necessary. In fact, I bet that half the people you run into will be on your side and with you, rather than against. Don't judge a book by it's cover."  
>Mario shuddered when remembering back to the image of a Goomba he had seen. "Yeah, okay."<br>Luigi had stopped passing out after 4 times. His damaged mind finally came to terms with the idea of another world, another 500 or some species, but not the fact that he was going with his brother to destroy a dictator.  
>"I'm not doing it!" Luigi yelled out suddenly.<br>"Leege, you're coming with me, whether you like it or not. I know what happened with you and the mansion. I know the people that were all killed by some ghost haunting it. That wasn't you, but you continue to think it was. So what you're gonna do, saving a world, saving a princess...it's going to be your vengeance."  
>The words sunk with Luigi, and he hushed for a while.<br>"Mario, did the Princess cover the powers in Mushroom World with you?" Toadsworth interrupted the silence.  
>"You mean, like, fire flowers?"<br>"Yes."  
>"Fire flowers?" Luigi asked.<br>"Across our world, you will find many strange...edible items, that sort of power you up. A fire flower, for instance, is a red flower that will grant you the ability to shoot balls of fire from your gloved hands. There's also Mushrooms, Tanooki Tails, Blue Shells, frog suits, etcetera etcetera. All of these have different powers. You cannot defeat Bowser without these. To be more specific, you'll never get CLOSE to Bowser, without these." Toadsworth explained to Luigi.  
>"You got that right, Pops." Toad said after his bout of silence. He had a backpack up on his shoulders. "I actually have a mushroom in my 'pack here." When he noticed a confused look from Luigi, he told him, "those can heal your injuries."<br>"I think we need to go, Toadsy." Mario looked Toadsworth in the eyes, "we only have a week to get there."  
>The old man nodded. "Yes," was all that choked out of him. Mario could've sworn he saw a tear.<br>"Bye, Pop," Toad hugged his father, "I'll go save my sister."  
>As Mario Mario, Luigi Mario, and Toadshipp left the hut of a home, Toadsworth wore a faint smile.<p>


	10. Oliver's Army

"At most, it should take maybe 5 days to get there, but that's without irregular delay," Toad told the brothers once they were past the Mushroom Kingdom boundaries and in unowned territory, which was a never-ending stream of short red grass. The long walk was not so boring, as Luigi had brought his Walkman, and played songs throughout their adventure.  
>Oliver's army is here to stay, Oliver's army are on their way, and I would rather be anywhere else but here today<br>"Elvis Costello?" Toad asked.  
>Luigi was stunned. "Um, yeah. How'd you...?"<br>"I go up to Earth all the time! I love the music you have there."  
>"And no one cares that you're a mushroom?" Luigi asked in disbelief.<br>"I go in a trench coat and fedora, dumbass."  
>"Oh," Luigi sheepishly breathed out.<br>"Me," Toad started again, "I'm more of a Smiths fan. The Cure, that lot."  
>"You guys suck," Mario butt in, "Arcade Fire is where it's at."<br>"Get lost!" Toad shouted, "Arcade Fire is for nerdy losers! I bet you like U2, also!"  
>"Yeah, so what?" Mario angrily demanded.<br>The three then burst out into laughter. They had all formed a friendship and the beginning of a strong bond through the earliness of the quest. Mario Mario had always been a lonely figure back on Earth, and was learning the benefits of social interactions. Luigi Mario was a little braver in his words and put more swagger in his steps. And Toad was able to insult men from different worlds.  
>"There's a pipe up ahead. It'll take us underground, a little closer to Koopaland. It will also let us get closer, without being detected."<br>"Anything down there?" Luigi asked as if nonchalantly.  
>"I doubt we'll find much. Couple Goombas, at the most."<br>Soon, the group had come in sight with a green pipe.  
>"Hey," Mario asked, "are the pipes just random colors, or-"<br>"Actually, their color tells you where they lead. Sort of." Toad explained. "The green pipes, they lead to another location on the same continent. Yellow pipes will take you to places overseas. Red pipes go to other worlds, such as Earth."  
>"Well, why are all the entrance pipes here on Mushroom World?" Luigi pondered.<br>"No one really knows. But I...I think that Mushroom World is the center of the universe."  
>That left the team wondering. Soon, however, Mario climbed over the pipe edge and slid in.<br>"After you," Toad gestured. Luigi slowly stumbled in and Toad chuckled, "ladies first," before hopping in himself.  
>I fell in love again, all things go, all things go<br>Luigi's Walkman echoed through the blue-seeming cave. Which was not a good thing. The three quickly noticed the hordes of Goombas, whose attentions veered toward the music of Sufjan Stevens.  
>"Oh, shi-"<p> <p>


	11. Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now

A/N: I am sorry for any confusion last chapter; the word processor I use apparently does not transfer arrows to FanFiction, which I had been using for any dialogue from Luigi's Walkman. From now on, I will be using / to emphasize any song lyrics. Repeat: Anything in /this/ is simply song spouting out of Luigi's Walkman.

I have already mentioned "King" Koopa Bowser was a creative soul, right? This beast had, for maximum safety, deployed over 100 trained, armed Goombas and Koopas to guard the underground system. Few traveled the parts anyway, so the Megakoopa made it a sort of base of operations for his troops. The Mario Bros., too stunned to do anything, only watched as a Koopa shot a ball of lead which homed in on the pipe entrance. Our heroes were trapped, underground, with 1000 ways to die.  
>"We're dead meat." Toad spoke the sad truth.<br>Luigi, frightened out of his wits, simply dropped his jaw at the sheer number of enemies.  
>Mario, however, snapped out of his trance. He grabbed Toad's torso with one hand and his brother's foot with his other, and leaped 30 feet across the troops, landing on a Goomba which crunched into brown liquid on the ground. However, he had not leapt far enough. The three were being closed in on by the hundred-something army. Frantically, Mario looked for an escape. He found something better.<br>Nearby, there was a small space between the floor bricks. Out of a patch of dirt grew a bright red flower, with a pure green stem. He left his friends for a moment to tackle the plant and gobble it up. At that moment, his whole body heated up to an almost intolerable level. Wisps of smoke bounced from his hands. He pushed, and a ball of fire the size of a Goomba appeared out of air, and ran into a Koopa, causing it to hide in it's shell.  
>"Yippee-ki-yay, motherfuckers," Mario whispered, and then spun in a circle.<br>As the plumber twirled, fireballs left the man and hit soldiers left and right. Goombas exploded into sticky liquid, and Koopas crawled away in burnt shells.  
>Soon, Mario's body cooled down and he stopped shooting. Looking at the aftermath, he found that Toad and Luigi were okay, with minimal damage, and only a few enemies scattered across the room.<br>With a burst of confidence, Luigi leapt onto a Koopa, landed beside it, grabbed the shell and hurled it at a nearby Goomba. Toad entered a fistfight with a Koopa as Mario dusted off his overalls. Mario was impressed when he saw Toad deliver a solid uppercut to the red Koopa, making it break it's shell and run away.  
>"Well," Mario gasped out, "good work, team."<br>/From the one you left behind, from the one you left behind, from the one you left behind, from the one you left behind, behind, beh-/ Luigi's Walkman interrupted the silence, spouting The Smiths, before the timid man shut it off.  
>"Accidentally pressed the button," he said quietly.<br>Mario returned his attention to the emptiness of the underground system.  
>"Let's move on," Toad decided.<br>"Yeah, okay," Mario sunk to his knees, "let's just take a little break first."  
>"We're making good progress," Toad volunteered as he, too, crunched his knees. "Actually ahead of schedule. Koopaland is a few days away, as long as we can find a yellow pipe down here. Shouldn't be difficult, underground is where over half the pipes are."<br>"Okay," Mario repeated. As a silence followed, Mario spoke up, "Luigi, continue those Smiths, will you?"  
>Luigi nodded and worked out his Walkman.<br>/I was happy in the haze of a drunken hour, but Heaven knows I'm miserable now.../


	12. My Eyes

"I'm afraid this is as far as I can take you," Toad said sadly as the three reached a yellow pipe.  
>"What? Why?" Mario demanded.<br>"Well," Toad said as if it was obvious, "Mushroom Men don't breathe underwater."  
>"Wait," Luigi asked, "this yellow pipe takes us INTO water?"<br>"Yeah, overseas."  
>"I thought you meant the pipe went from one continent to the other!" Mario shouted.<br>"Well, there's a bit of manual work in between. Not that big a distance, man. Take you an hour, at the very most."  
>Luigi was walking in a circle, asking himself why he joined this adventure.<br>"Toad, humans don't breathe underwater." Mario explained.  
>"Here they do! Princess swims all the time! She'll be underwater for hours sometimes, is what my pop told me."<br>"Really?" Mario asked. He thought for a moment. "Luigi, I'm gonna try out the water. If it's not gonna work, the pipe will be right there. I won't drown."  
>"You're a dead man walking," Luigi uncharacteristically told him. Mario heeded the words with great pondering, and hopped up into the pipe.<br>When Mario saw a cool ocean blue, he was scrambling back into the pipe. But then, he realized there was no struggling with his body systems. He was totally fine.  
>"Yo," he spoke to himself, and water entered his mouth, but it was more of a drinking-water type situation. He grinned, then swam back into the pipe, taking him to the underground system and Luigi and Toad once more.<br>"Oh my God, Luigi, the water is totally fine."  
>The Mario Bros. gave their goodbyes to Toad, perhaps their last, and entered the pipe.<p>

"113 of my angels."  
>"113 of my angels are dead."<br>Bowser growled to himself as he read a report involving the underground system and a massacre of his fine troops.  
>"Any dolt with half a brain could see your plan is falling apart!" Peach discouraged the monster.<br>"Any dolt with half a brain?" Bowser repeated, "any dolt with half a brain could see that mushroomkind has gone insane." He continued reading the report, over and over, checking to make sure he missed no detail.

'During our weekly scan, we found the army you had based in the underground system was destroyed, counting a death toll of one-hundred and thirteen. At the sight, we found a Mushroom Man who seemed incapable of the massacre, but we believe there are accomplices. The Mushroom Man, who has been identified as Toadshipp of the Toads family, has been taken into questioning and will thereafter be placed in prison. We are sorry for your loss.  
>-Lakitu Barry'<p>

"I cannot believe my eyes," Bowser murmured, "how the world is filled with filth and lies." He cleared his throat and spoke louder. "I will purge this realm of the trash." Bowser began stomping out the room.  
>"And where are you going?" Peach demanded.<br>"To see the end of the world."


	13. Coming Down

"Who was responsible for the deaths of 113 of our loyal troops?"  
>"I don't know what you're talking about."<br>"Give me answers, damn it!"  
>A muscular Koopa, wearing a helmet and shoulder padding, with two small sledgehammers in a belt, was interrogating Toad. What had taken place after the Mario Bros. entered the yellow pipe was disastrous. No more than 2 minutes after, just as Toad was finding his way back to the Mushroom Kingdom, did a Lakitu, basic surveyors of the land, basic managers, see the Mushroom Man near the site of a Troop Massacre. After filing and sending a report to King Koopa Bowser, the Lakitu jailed him and notified the resident Hammer Bro of the case.<br>The next day, Mushroom World's atmosphere was different. Darker. Realer. 48 years of basic peace were coming to an end. If you will allow me but a moment to check in on all the persons and places that have big influence on this little tale.  
>In the Mushroom Kingdom, Toadsworth had taken up the mantle of ruler, as legally obliged by his previous vice-presidency. The population had grown, oddly-perhaps people trusted their own kind more than another.<br>Koopa Kamek was still flying toward Shy Guy Falls, the main residency of the Shy People. It was, quite literally, on the other side of the world. However, he was nearing the Falls. And with him, he was to bring promises of candy and toys to appeal to the Shy Guys' childlike nature.  
>Princess Peach was much smarter than you've probably come to expect. Ever since she was 15, she carried a sharp knife under her dress, strapped to her leg. For safety measures, of course. Whenever Bowser was not around, she was sawing at the bar furthest from the Megakoopa, hoping to make her way out.<br>Toadshipp had been rotting in jail for, so far, a night and a half. He was slightly scarred and bruised, punishments from the Hammer Bro as a result of his giving no valuable information.  
>"King" Koopa Bowser was planning on handling the trouble that awaited him personally. He was employing construction workers, engineers, architects to turn his castle into the most dangerous death trap possible.<br>And Mario and Luigi Mario were busy swimming frantically, looking for a way out of their underwater torture and to Koopaland.  
>I haven't mentioned that, have I? It was horrible under the blue sea. Strange fish known as Cheep-Cheep, watched their every move, attacking at every chance. As a result, Mario and Luigi were quite bruised, cut; Luigi's overalls were torn in half. Their mission was to find one more yellow pipe, an entrance to Bowser's kingdom.<br>And, secretly worse to both of them, was the realization of the amount of creatures they felt they had killed. Each brother had a guilty conscience eating away at them. How many did they kill? 50? Perhaps even 75? (We know they killed so many more, but let's not tell). Even if they were "creatures", they had still only been doing their jobs. Each made a mental note to limit the amount of deaths they had to deal out.  
>"Leege, I think I see it," Mario sputtered out, wiping some blood from his face onto his dry sleeve. Very surprisingly, it was as if the water were not there-it did not wet them, it did not prevent their breathing; it was as if it was oxygen. Mario then pointed his slightly blooded arm to a yellow object. The two ventured closer and found that it was, indeed, the entrance to Koopaland.<br>/Don't tell me any lies, look me in the eyes and say you're not the dev-/  
>Luigi quickly hushed his Walkman and turned to Mario.<br>"After you," Mario gestured, not quite wholeheartedly. As Luigi stepped into the pipe, Mario mouthed, "ladies first," before entering himself.


	14. Girl

/I saw her, yeah I saw her with her black tongue tied, 'round the roses/  
>Fist pounding on a vending machine, toy diamond ring, stuck on her finger/  
>...Nothing that I wouldn't try/  
>Hey...my sun-eyed girl, hey...my sun-eyed girl...my sun-eyed girl, hey.../  
>Mario had declared that they would sleep, after venturing a mile or two from the yellow pipe's exit. Koopaland wasn't far. But while Mario Mario had fallen fast asleep, Luigi had done quite the opposite. The poor man had had to cope with more than a single entity should. He suspected he wouldn't sleep for a long while.<br>So instead, he just listened to his Walkman on a quiet volume.  
>And I know I'm gonna steal her eye, she doesn't even know what's wrong/  
>Luigi paused the song, listening to the dead silence. He had thought he heard something. The jobless Italian slowly shrugged off the feeling, and resumed Beck's "Girl".<br>/And I know I'm gonna make her mine, take her where h-/  
>There it was again. The noise was fluttery, as if it was paper blowing through on the wind. He checked around the tree he was sitting against, and found a discarded page from a local newspaper. With nothing else to do, Luigi read.<br>/-er soul belongs, and I know I'm gonna steal her eye, n-/  
>Luigi quickly powered off the Walkman and shoved Mario's tired body.<br>"Mario, wake up! Wake up, man! Dude!"  
>Mario groggily rolled to Luigi, rubbing his temples. "What, Leege? Go to sleep."<br>"Look at this newspaper," Luigi shoved the column into his face.  
>Mario blinked several times before being able to clearly see the words.<br>'MUSHROOMAN CAPTURED Our overlord, King Koopa Bowser, has formally imprisoned a residential Mushroom Man as a primary suspect in the ongoing 'Underground Massacre of 2014' case. The possible culprit has been identified as Toadshipp of the Toads family, and is step-brother to none other than the Princess Peach Toadstool, who is currently being held by our King (see 1A for full detail on our Holy King's great kidnapping). Toads is being held in the Castled Prison of Koopaland. While our best detectives are working the case, no details of the case have been released to the public. St-'  
>The paper was torn in half, so the brothers could not read anything following the small excerpt.<br>"Ah, hell," Mario murmured. He then stood up and began strolling through the plains.  
>"Where we going?" Luigi hollered up to him as he stumbled to catch up.<br>"Gonna save my friend," Mario replied.  
>"But, the Princess-"<br>"We've only been about two days. We still have five more of those to get Toad and the Princess and take down Bowser and all that other stuff."  
>Luigi nodded after a moment, and as the siblings walked, they began forming their rescue plan.<br>/Hey...my sun-eyed girl.../


	15. Wildly Inappropriate

Mario and Luigi Mario. Two brothers, who had grown up with eachother their whole lives (other than the first 2 of Mario's, because he had a couple years on his little bro), and had always been friends, although Mario was always annoyed that Luigi was about half a foot taller than him. Their friendship had never been more strained than in Mushroom World, however.  
>60 years is comin', 60 years is gone away/  
>Explosive light from your chest into your final resting place/  
>"Luigi," Mario spoke up, "I took a brochure slash map from this travel station thing while no one was watching. Looks like the Castled Prison is just a couple miles away."<br>"Cool," Luigi replied, trying to sound casual.  
>I.../  
>And I.../  
>I...don't want to go on any longer/  
>Soon enough, after Luigi had replayed "Wildly Inappropriate" by The Burning Hotels several times, the Castled Prison was in view.<br>It was quite a sight to behold. It was only a couple stories high, but it's width was the impressive part. The brothers couldn't even see the end. Mario pulled up a couple facts from the brochure/map, things like 124,589x98,485x15,555 was the architectural structure, it held Koopaland's most horrid criminals (and Toad), and had high security personnel. Not quite a problem for the Mario Brothers.  
>"Mario," Luigi reminded the plumber in red, "if we go through with this, any surprise advantage we have on Bowser will be gone."<br>"Yeah, yeah," Mario shrugged the fact off. "Alright, now here's the plan. I don't know where the hell Toad is, but this little pamphlet says where the major criminals are held. It's a relatively small space. I'm guessing that's where the little dude is. We'll take out anyone who's in our way and get our friend out."  
>"Okay," Luigi whispered, for some reason. "Hey, Mario," he said a little louder.<br>"Mm-hm?" Mario responded, but didn't turn; instead, he continued his walk to the jail.  
>"Let's try to not 'take out' very many people."<br>Mario stopped his feet and did nothing, as if examining the comment. "Yeah, okay," he muttered, and stayed his path.  
>I...this life's not living without you/  
>I...our bond couldn't be any stronger/  
>I...you departed us so soon/  
>I...don't want to go on any longer/  
>Mario and Luigi were now but a 50 feet from the castle door. The entrance was not guarded, but the inside surely was. The prison, like many other establishments in the realm, was doorless-there would be no problem entering. It would most likely be the exiting part of the plan where it started getting risky.<br>"Mario," Luigi began, "why did going into this world make us criminals?"  
>Mario cackled. "I have no idea."<br>Mario Mario leapt into the jail and landed squarely on his feet, entering a fighting stance. A guard or two was present, but had not noticed the red blur, which was soon followed by a green streak. It was pretty loud inside. The two guards that were in the entrance section were talking by the wall, and gripes from the prisoners could be heard. The prisoners-they were fascinating.  
>"Is that a doll?" Luigi asked, pointed at what looked like a puppet with a blue cap, who lay in a uncomfortable-seeming bed.<br>"Hell if I know," Mario replied. The two walked down a narrow alley, but rather than walls, cells surrounded them. On the left, a furred white teddy bear with large purple wings growled at the foreigners. On the right, a shark with a name tag 'JOHNNY' poked his fanged teeth out.  
>"Alright, Major Crime Suspects should be on a left," Mario informed. And as soon as they turned, they recognized the small Mushroom with a red-spotted cap.<br>"Toad!" The two cried, and ran to their friend.  
>"Mario?" Toad questioned, as if in a dream. "Luigi?" He grinned. "I hate to break it to you, but the Princess is in another castle."<br>"I know," Mario answered, and looked his small friend right in the eye. He used his strength (remember, the humans' strength in this world is multiplied?) to push a bar crooked enough for Toad to slide out.  
>Suddenly, a deafening alarm sounded. A group of Koopa Troopas and Hammer Bros. surrounded the 3 companions.<br>"We gotta dash!" Toad exclaimed and tugged on the brothers' shirts, pulling them the opposite direction. The two broke free of Toad's grasp and ran right along with him. They came to a locked door, but Luigi propelled his own head into the entrance and it crumbled to pieces. When looking behind them, our heroes could still see the impending guards.  
>I...this life's not worth living without you/  
>The unlikely trio found their way out the damaged door and into a world they were beginning to know...<p> <p>


	16. How It Ends

'UNDERGROUND MASSACRE 2014 SUSPECT ESCAPES Toadshipp of the Toads family has escaped custody from Koopaland's Castled Prison. Toads was the primary suspect of the Underground System Massacre of 2014. Present guards' accounts claim that he was helped by two hu[man]s, but this has yet to be proven.(continued on 3A)'  
>"Blasphemy," Toadsworth shook his head. "This wasn't part of the plan."<br>Toadsworth spoke through a telephone, and had a wrinkled, heavy forehead. He was in the Mushroom Kingdom's palace, in his office, where he did his duties as King of the Mushroom People, if only for a temporary time.  
>"Why didn't you release him? I don't want him involved." A pause, as the other end likely replied, and then Toadsworth argued again, "you better make sure he's safe, at the least. No harm should come to him. Look, let's regroup there. I'll catch a boat. . . yes, take care." He hung the phone on it's square, numbered mantle, and dropped his cranium into his hands. His door suddenly flung open, and Toadsworth saw that the culprit was his "friend", a monstrous, crocodile pirate who went by K. Rool.<br>"Aye, Worthing! Me friend of ole, yea?"  
>"What do you need, Rool? I'm rather busy running a kingdom here, if you can understand my impatience," Toadsworth stood up.<br>"Actually, that's what I've come to see you about, mate," the sailor said in a devious way, before slamming his scaly hands on the desk in front of Toadsworth. "I know your secret."  
>Toadsworth, in one swift motion, opened a desk drawer, pulled from it a small dagger, and flung the weapon through Rool's heart. A gasp escaped the pirate before he dropped to the floor and struggled to breathe. The old man crouched by the dying scum, and whispered, "now, no one will know what I have planned for the world."<p>

"Yeah, my dad's a cool guy," Toad grinned honestly.  
>"So, he was a doctor in the Mushroom Army?" the red brother asked.<br>"Yep. What, do you wanna be a doctor, Mario?"  
>"Dr. Mario, at your service," Mario said with a tone of importance, and the three laughed.<br>"Bowser's Castle is right up ahead," Toad pointed to an enormous establishment, gargoyles and statues covering the kingdom.  
>"Dang..." Luigi breathed out.<br>/There is no escape, from the slavecatcher's songs, for all of the loved ones gone. Forever is not so long/


	17. Chicago

Kamek the Occultist (I haven't forgot about him) was to bring King Koopa Bowser bad news-he had failed in his quest to use the Shy Guy population as an army. Flying in through the window, the poor servant delivered the alert.  
>"Kamek...I thought we were bound in friendship," Bowser spoke quietly, "of course, a ruler cannot have friends."<br>"Bowser..."  
>"Silence. Only friends can call me Bowser. You, on the other hand, will address me as King Koopa. Now, only for our cherished history, I now bestow upon you a single chance-run."<br>"What?!"  
>"You heard me. If I ever see you again, you will be swiftly destroyed."<br>As quickly as he arrived, the master of dark arts exited.

Mario Mario, Luigi Mario, and Toadshipp were on the final step of their trying journey. They lingered by the castle door, resting in preparation of their final battle. Luigi played relaxing tunes on his dying Walkman, soothing the tired trio.  
>You came to take us-all things go, all things go/  
>To recreate us-all things grow, all things grow/  
>We had our mindset-all things know, all things know/  
>You had to find it-all things go, all things go/  
>"We're going to have to go in sooner or later," Mario broke the sad truth.<br>"All things go," Luigi replied, evoking a chuckle from the other two.  
>The crew stood, dusted themselves off, and started gearing up. Mario had, in a pouch, a mushroom and a fire flower. Luigi carried a large knapsack, which was filled with mushrooms. Toad led them through the gray castle doors.<br>As soon as they stepped inside the 25-story castle, they knew it was a suicide mission. An enormous stone fell from the ceiling right in front of them with an enraged look on it's...face. Two Bullet Bills flew in from opposite sides, making the Mario Bros. jump while Toad ducked, when they finally noticed an army of Goombas marching forward.  
>"Wait!" Toad shouted, and pointed the Super Mario Bros. to a caped Koopa. Mario leaped, landed on the shell, and tore off the cape to become a great flying machine. He flew down and grabbed Luigi and Toad, causing Luigi to drop his knapsack. Luigi almost passed out from the amazement of flying, but Toad slapped him enough for him to change his mind.<br>It was quite a sight to see. Mario and his yellow cape soared through the air, up and up, getting closer to Bowser, all the while taking his pals Toad and Luigi for the ride. Bullet Bills homed in repeatedly but only managed to destroy themselves. Suddenly, Toad noticed Mario's cape began blinking out of existence.  
>"Mario! Land! Land!"<br>"What?" Mario shouted over the roaring wind.  
>"LAND!"<br>Mario's cape ceased to exist, and the three closed their eyes and shrieked. Luckily, they had just entered a new floor, and the fall only hurt so much. Mario scoped the surroundings. They were on floor 23, but it seemed empty enough. There was a Goomba heading towards them from the other side of the room, but it's small feet proved it would be a while before it was close. Mario offered Toad the only mushroom between the three of them, but Toad declined, so he passed it to Luigi.  
>"You! You!" The Mario squad finally noticed a Koopa garbed in blue, who was nearing them.<br>"You are the reason for the end of the King and I's friendship! You!" The blue Koopa pulled from his cloak a glowing staff as anger grew on his face. "No, no, now, I will make amends to him...by destroying you all!"  
>The staff glowed brighter and brighter until Mario gobbled down a Fire Flower and used the heat to flick the weapon out of the Koopa's hand.<br>"Fools!" The Koopa in blue rolled, grabbed the staff, zapped the spare Goomba, and flew out a nearby window. "You have yet to suffer the wrath of Kame-e-e-k!"  
>I made a lot of mistakes, I made a lot of mistakes, I made a lot of mistakes/  
>The three survived one more floor and made it to the empty floor of floor 25, the very top. The room was bare except for an enormous doorway. The Mario Bros. and Toad entered, and found the horrifying scene of their likely death. A half of room before dropping down to a massive lava pit covered only by a small bridge that led to another half of the room, which contained a large red button and, in the air, a cage holding Princess Peach. And, an enormous Koopa about 15 feet in height.<br>"There are," Bowser uttered, "no strings on me."  
> <p>


	18. Refugee

/Somewhere, somehow somebody must've kicked you around some/  
>Tell me why you wanna lay there, revel, in your abandon/  
>Honey, it don't make no difference to me, baby/  
>Everybody has to fight to be free, you see/  
>You don't/  
>Have to/  
>Live like a refugee (don't gotta live like a refugee...)/  
>"Here's the sequence of events that will shortly take place," the Lord Koopa explained, "an old acquaintance protected this room with a spell that lowers your gravity and strength to what passes for normal on your realm, making it absolutely impossible for you to, in any way, defeat me. I, however, do not care for the powers of the universe, so they do not affect me. I deny the powers of the universe. When you start running over here across the bridge, the only way to me, I will press this red button behind me, and the bridge will quickly slide into the floor, leaving you to die in the burning of lava. The only way to prevent this is to leave, and send me a deed rather than 'heroes'. So go, leave! If you realize what's good for you!"<br>The Mario Crew stepped forward.  
>"Suicidal sons of bitches," Bowser sneered, "you'll die terribly in the flames, that of the lava and of your own shame."<br>"What a wimp!" Luigi suddenly shouted, with a sense of adrenaline no one had seen since the mansion, "won't even fight us!"  
>"Right, Luigi!" Mario began playing along, "such a big dude, and he's too scared to throw a fair fight! He even took our powers away, just in case!"<br>"I removed your powers to assure that the plan would be completed," Bowser began stuttering with confusion, "I'm not stupid."  
>"Wimp!"<br>"Nerd!"  
>"Bet that joker doesn't even know how to punch!"<br>"Silence!" King Koopa cried, "au lear plu strenguo retu!"  
>With the utterings of the ancient language, the Mario Bros. felt lighter. Their leaping and power had returned.<br>Bowser began stomping across the stone bridge, closer and closer to the Mario Bros.. Mario jumped across the air and landed his feet into the side of Bowser's face before falling off, but the Megakoopa pulled Mario out of the air and punched him into the ground repeatedly, at least until Luigi uppercut Bowser, causing him to let Mario go.  
>"Go, Super Mario Bros.!" Toad shouted from the safe half of the room, sitting in the corner.<br>/You don't/  
>Have to/  
>Live like a refugee (don't gotta live like a refugee...)/  
>The Mario Bros. and Bowser faced eachother, both sides in the middle of the bridge.<br>Bowser exhaled a fireball that Luigi leapt over but Mario failed to dodge. Luigi used his jump to suddenly jet into the ground, causing severe blowback to Bowser. Luigi checked to see if Mario was okay, and saw his brother in just a red shirt, the blue overall only in pieces. Mario slid through the floor, tripping Bowser, but the "King" used the fall to do a handstand-stomp in front of Luigi, sending him through the air into a wall. Bowser whipped around and used his tail to push Mario away, with his brother Luigi and Toad. Bowser laughed horrendously at the brothers' failure.  
>"En retur," Bowser said, and the Mario Bros. felt normal again-they were dead meat. "I'm not going to rule the Mushroom Kingdom. I'll burn it. I'll burn it right to the ground, and it will be pleasant."<br>"Well, good luck," a voice said sarcastically from the side of the room with the red button. Peach, holding a machete, stood next to the red button. A bar of her cage was sawed off, and she had escaped.  
>Bowser looked down, realizing he was in the middle of the bridge. "No, no, wait! Wait!"<br>The Princess stepped on the red button, and Bowser slowly fell into the red abyss, screaming.  
>Princess Peach ran to Mario and Luigi with open arms, hugging them. Toad joined the group hug at their legs.<br>"You ruined it...you ruined it all," yet another mysterious voice arised, this time from the doorway. Stepping out from the dark was Toadsworth.  
>"Dad?" Toad questioned.<br>"I'm so sorry son, for you to be involved in this," Toadsworth sighed, "I told Bowser to release you, but you were broken out before parole.  
>"Toadsy, what's going on here?" Mario asked worriedly.<br>"You! YOU were supposed to die! You, and that wimp-ass brother of yours, and Peach!" Toadsworth raised a six-barrel pistol and pointed at Mario, who raised his hands in the air. "Ever since that little bitch girl took rule of the kingdom, our numbers, stocks, and economy dropped. She was just too busy playing in some make-believe world that she never noticed!" Toadsworth jabbed his free hand's finger at Peach repeatedly. "Soon as I took up just TEMPORARY rule, our economy has began crawling out of the dust bowl it's been! But you had to save the day! Didn't you! God damn it, didn't you!?"  
>Toadsworth then held his pistol with both hands, aiming at Mario's forehead. "You won't 'save the day' again."<br>Right before the bullet was shot, Toad jumped in the air, using his body as a shield for Mario, and the bullet collided with the poor Mushroom Man's heart. The dying soldier lay on the ground. Luigi and Peach joined around him, checking his breathing and the like. Toadsworth watched as he realized the consequences of his actions. Mario was out for revenge. From behind, he kicked the distracted old man in the back, stepped on his cap, and grabbed the dropped six-barrel. "You little punk," Mario muttered, a tear forming in his eye, "you little old man..."  
>You don't have to live like a refugee (don't gotta live like a refugee...)/ 


	19. Epilogue

EPILOGUE And now, our little tale comes to an end. But never forget, every ending is only another beginning. Perhaps, soon, that beginning will be told, and will continue on the end of our characters' journeys.  
>Toadsworth was swiftly jailed and put on suicide watch, as the old man grew deeper and deeper into a state of dark depression as the days went by. Mario, Luigi and the Princess had brought him to an advanced Mushroom Guard.<br>After news spread of Bowser's death, the rule of Koopaland faded, and became a space of anarchy, but resumed in peace. The Koopa Guard was broken up and sent to divisions in other lands. The Castled Prison was destroyed.  
>Toad received a proper burial and funeral to which over half of MushroomWorld attended, including at least 15 delegates from all the nations. The burial was resided over by an old friend of Toad, and Mario gave a small speech.<br>Reggie, the previous owner of the pipe that started it all, began a video game company called 'Nintendo', and the first game they put out was a side-scroller known as Super Mario Bros., which was what Reggie believed went down beyond the pipe.  
>Kamek was doomed to wander the Mushroom World without a purpose, but intended to find some meaning in his Koopa life.<br>After Mushroom World had learned how Princess Peach Toadstool could handle herself, and after she had matured herself after her experiences, the economy of the Mushroom Kingdom began growing to what it used to be famous for: it's vast economic discoveries.  
>Luigi had transformed from a broken man with immense guilt and responsibility to the deaths of an entire family, to a person who could move on and overcame his fears. He decided, having that his reputation back on Earth was at an all-time low, he would stay in Mushroom World.<br>As did Mario, after asking Princess Peach out to a dinner. Mario Mario was different, too. He was better, not some yes-man. He now shared one opinion, and that was his own and that of his friends-not the television.  
>Princess Peach had, yes, entered a relationship with Mario, but also used her newfound maturity to create a better world for the citizens of the Mushroom Kingdom. When she wasn't busy doing presidential things, she was an activist who encouraged people to get up and go.<br>Bowser, of course, was burning in the flames. Was he cursed to a never-ending torture, or was it true that he had died swiftly in lava? Perhaps we'll never know.  
>And I believe that's it.<br>(GAME OVER)

A/N: Thank you to those of you who read diligently to the end. This was Fic 1 in my Smash Fic series. Wait for my upcoming story, based on Legend of Zelda! 


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